Manischewitz calls Newark a key ingredient in its growth plan

Newark landed the new corporate headquarters of The Manischewitz Co., executives said Tuesday, because city officials provided one crucial ingredient — they moved quickly to solve problems.

The company, which has 80 corporate positions and up to 400 factory jobs — depending on the season — in Newark, did not receive tax incentives to relocate from Secaucus. Manischewitz said the city's "business-friendly" climate made the move easy.

Business-friendly "doesn't mean they are cutting corners," said Paul Bensabat, co-chief executive officer of Manischewitz. "But they move quickly to get you answers. If you are moving quickly, they will move quickly."

The 123-year-old kosher food company officially opened its corporate offices, relocated from One Harmon Plaza in Secaucus, with a blessing by the chief rabbi of Israel, and the creation of what the company billed as "the world's longest matzo" in its adjacent factory. The matzo measured 25 feet, one inch long, and 41.5 inches wide and, according to a company representative, qualifies for a place in the record books.

The company said the move emphasizes its commitment to keeping its matzo and other kosher foods "Made in New Jersey." All of the company's matzo and Tam Tam crackers, as well as soups, gefilte fish, macaroons and other products, are made at the Newark factory the company began using in 2008.

The corporate headquarters and factory are located on Avenue K in an industrial section of the city.

Bensabat said establishing a manufacturing facility and corporate headquarters in Newark are part of a plan to rejuvenate the company that was founded in 1888 in Cincinnati by Rabbi Dov Behr Manischewitz.

Bensabat, who with co-CEO Alain Bankier, and investors, took over operations of Manischewitz in 2008, said the new owners have been working to revitalize the brand. Previously, he said, Manischewitz was "a great name, a great company, 123 years old, but tired. It had lost its energy," he said, "and it was a little bit overweight, to be honest with you."

Bensabat and Bankier restructured the company, cut corporate staff by about 30 percent, redesigned the packaging, and introduced 35 products this Passover. Later this week the company will be opening a 220,000-square-foot warehouse in Mount Olive in Morris County.

Manischewitz revolutionized matzo-making in America, said Jonathan Sarna, professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University and chief historian of the National Museum of American Jewish History, who has written about the company and who attended the opening celebration Tuesday.

That revolution, he said, "transformed matzo from a handmade local product, produced locally in every Jewish community, into a brand where the matzo was square and the matzo could be shipped all across the world."

The company also managed to do that with the acceptance of the Orthodox community of its kosher credentials, "partly because Dov Manischewitz was so learned and intimately involved with the Orthodox rabbinate. They always innovated using Orthodox rabbis to ensure that Jewish law wasn't violated."

The company continues to rely on rabbis to guide the company. On Tuesday, Rabbi Yona Metzger, the chief rabbi of Israel, blessed the new headquarters and installed a mezuza — small containers holding scrolls printed with a Jewish prayer — in three doorways of the company offices. Observant Jews place mezuzot at the entrances to their homes in accordance with a biblical command.

In recent years, Sarna said, Manischewitz has had competition from matzo made in Israel, but the company remains the leading kosher food manufacturer in America.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, in a speech liberally laced with Hebrew and Yiddish words, said having Manischewitz in Newark "makes me the proudest mayor in America. It gives me great naches," he said, using the Yiddish word meaning "pride in one's children."

Manischewitz calls Newark a key ingredient in its growth plan

Newark landed the new corporate headquarters of The Manischewitz Co., executives said Tuesday, because city officials provided one crucial ingredient — they moved quickly to solve problems.

The company, which has 80 corporate positions and up to 400 factory jobs — depending on the season — in Newark, did not receive tax incentives to relocate from Secaucus. Manischewitz said the city's "business-friendly" climate made the move easy.

Business-friendly "doesn't mean they are cutting corners," said Paul Bensabat, co-chief executive officer of Manischewitz. "But they move quickly to get you answers. If you are moving quickly, they will move quickly."

The 123-year-old kosher food company officially opened its corporate offices, relocated from One Harmon Plaza in Secaucus, with a blessing by the chief rabbi of Israel, and the creation of what the company billed as "the world's longest matzo" in its adjacent factory. The matzo measured 25 feet, one inch long, and 41.5 inches wide and, according to a company representative, qualifies for a place in the record books.

The company said the move emphasizes its commitment to keeping its matzo and other kosher foods "Made in New Jersey." All of the company's matzo and Tam Tam crackers, as well as soups, gefilte fish, macaroons and other products, are made at the Newark factory the company began using in 2008.

The corporate headquarters and factory are located on Avenue K in an industrial section of the city.

Bensabat said establishing a manufacturing facility and corporate headquarters in Newark are part of a plan to rejuvenate the company that was founded in 1888 in Cincinnati by Rabbi Dov Behr Manischewitz.

Bensabat, who with co-CEO Alain Bankier, and investors, took over operations of Manischewitz in 2008, said the new owners have been working to revitalize the brand. Previously, he said, Manischewitz was "a great name, a great company, 123 years old, but tired. It had lost its energy," he said, "and it was a little bit overweight, to be honest with you."

Bensabat and Bankier restructured the company, cut corporate staff by about 30 percent, redesigned the packaging, and introduced 35 products this Passover. Later this week the company will be opening a 220,000-square-foot warehouse in Mount Olive in Morris County.

Manischewitz revolutionized matzo-making in America, said Jonathan Sarna, professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University and chief historian of the National Museum of American Jewish History, who has written about the company and who attended the opening celebration Tuesday.

That revolution, he said, "transformed matzo from a handmade local product, produced locally in every Jewish community, into a brand where the matzo was square and the matzo could be shipped all across the world."

The company also managed to do that with the acceptance of the Orthodox community of its kosher credentials, "partly because Dov Manischewitz was so learned and intimately involved with the Orthodox rabbinate. They always innovated using Orthodox rabbis to ensure that Jewish law wasn't violated."

The company continues to rely on rabbis to guide the company. On Tuesday, Rabbi Yona Metzger, the chief rabbi of Israel, blessed the new headquarters and installed a mezuza — small containers holding scrolls printed with a Jewish prayer — in three doorways of the company offices. Observant Jews place mezuzot at the entrances to their homes in accordance with a biblical command.

In recent years, Sarna said, Manischewitz has had competition from matzo made in Israel, but the company remains the leading kosher food manufacturer in America.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, in a speech liberally laced with Hebrew and Yiddish words, said having Manischewitz in Newark "makes me the proudest mayor in America. It gives me great naches," he said, using the Yiddish word meaning "pride in one's children."